Recently we’ve made a radical announcement which you might have noticed. This raised a lot of questions and we’re here to answer those. First things first, the news got spread very wide and far over the internet. A lot further than we ever expected, which meant the message got quite diluted. So no matter what and where you read it, what you read here is what’s going to happen and why it’s happening.

The Flock is a multiplayer thriller in which you can scare your friends. Everybody starts as an agile monster from a species called the Flock, but the goal of the game is to grab and hold the Light Artifact which transforms you in the hunted Carrier. Only the Carrier can win the game, so you want to get a hold of that Light Artifact. The twist is, the Flock are not allowed to move in the light of the artifact or they will be burned to a crisp in mere seconds. If they choose not to move, they turn into a stone statue and are invulnerable to the light.

If you’ve payed attention, there’s two things that can happen to the Flock. They either die (e.g. by moving through the light) or they transform into a whole different creature called the Carrier. In both scenarios there is eventually no more Flock. If this were the real world it would mean the Flock is a tragic race doomed to extinction. We want to convey that story into our multiplayer.

Q: What is the population?We’re going to launch the game with a population of Flock. Earth has become a dark and barren place where only the Flock still roam and create the planet’s present population. They have started a struggle that revolves around the Light Artifact which will lead to their demise. With each Flock that dies, earth’s population will drop until the Flock are no more.

Q: What happens when the population reaches 0?The game won’t be up for sale anymore and it also marks the beginning of the end. Players that already have the game in their library can partake in the next phase which will have a climactic finale.

Q: Why do this??!As we’ve mentioned before we want to convey the extinction story as something to be experienced by the players in our multiplayer game. But we also have an important second reason, so bear with us for a moment.

Most indie multiplayer games lose their player base within a year. Even heavy hitters such as Titanfall and Evolve have a fast dwindling player base. The most popular games such as League of Legends and Counter-Strike still have a somewhat anticlimactic ending of their players’ experience. Because in the end at some point – and this can be after five years or two months – you’ll stop playing because you either got bored of it, you’ve seen it all or you, or your friends have no longer time to play.

We want to tackle that problem, and make sure The Flock ends with a climax after which the game will be fondly remembered. Much like a lot of single player experiences where you have a huge battle or a boss fight.

We have three design goals for this game. We want to make a:1. scary/tense game2. immersive experience (that you really feel like a monster, or being hunted as the Carrier)3. and do it in an unconventional way.

The population plan ties into these design goals and strengthens all of these. We wouldn’t be doing this if we were making a competitive shooter or the next moba. But for The Flock it makes a lot of sense. Also, these three design goals – the things that we think makes our game special – won’t last forever. At some point the game will stop being scary, immersive or unconventional, whereas competitiveness lasts forever. You can’t keep playing a horror game forever, but it doesn’t mean the game has no right to exist.

So here’s the question we asked ourselves: isn’t it worth sacrificing the ability to replay the game after say two years’ time? What kind of experience will these players be getting? They would come online and find no one to play against or just a few players who are either really good or very new to the game. That’s not a fun player-experience. So isn’t it worth sacrificing that ability in order to improve the experience for most players when most players are playing the game? We do think so.

Q: So, how big is the Flock population?215.358.979 Flock lives . This takes into account the optimal experience we intend to deliver, the lore, the average play time, amount of deaths, refunders, regular griefers, the sales we wish to make and the time we want the game to be active so everyone can take the time to enjoy the game.

Q: What counts as a flock death?A Flock is dead when:-It dies by burning in the Carriers light.-It becomes the Carrier.-It falls into an abyss.

Q: What stops me and my friends from suiciding for 2 hours straight and then ask for a refund?Nothing really, we believe suicide attempts won’t have that big of an impact. Remember, you have 215.358.979 lives to take. We rather hope you have fun scaring your friends and enjoy the extra content we’re planning to release. Also, there’s a respawn time.

Q: When is the game going to end?We could say for example the game will last a year, but really we don’t know. We leave it up to the players, as it’s their battle and experience. Safe to say, the number is substantial and we don’t expect it to end in some mere months.

Q: What about hackers or bots?Hacking or using bots is not an accepted way of playing the game. If we notice somebody hacking or using bots to rapidly decrease the population, we will revert all the lives (even the legitimate ones) that the hacker has decreased from the population followed by a warning. Repeatedly hacking or using bots will result in a ban.

Q: Will it be possible to add lives?No, lives cannot be added unless we release the game on another platform such as PS4 or Xbox one.

Q: If The Flock is released on another platform, will we share the population pool?Yes, players from all platforms will tap into the same population pool as the finale is something to be experienced only once by the players of The Flock.

Q: How much will The Flock cost?The Flock will be priced at $16,99 – €16,99. Valve helped us settle on the price for different regions. These will be revealed soon. If you pre-order or buy the game during launch week you will receive a buddy key for free!

Q: Why are you creating such a risky campaign?The Flock isn’t meant to be and won’t be for everybody. We at Vogelsap like to focus our experience into something unconventional and adventurous, which means we cater to a certain audience that is interested in such experiences.

Q: How long will you support The Flock?We will support the game during its entire lifetime as long as we have enough funds to provide ourselves a living. Every bit of money will first be put in supporting The Flock.

Q: What kind of support are you talking about?As long as we can support the game we will release all gameplay related content and support for FREE. This includes the ending.

Q: What about late buyers? How will they experience the climactic finale?We have a plan that we think is fair for people joining late. Also, late buyers will have the opportunity to still enjoy the game during the climactic finale.

Q: I’ve purchased the game but the finale is over! I haven’t had the chance to play the game at all because…Valve standard refund system applies. When the population reaches 0 the game won’t be available for purchase, so you can’t make the mistake of buying after the finale has begun. We believe that there will still be enough time to play the game during the finale.If you find yourself with having spent money to buy The Flock but without being able to play the game at all, send us a message and we’re sure we can figure something out.

Q: Will you really end the game after which the game will never be playable again? Yes, we will stick with what we’ve said. If we would make this a re-occurring event, it would be far less special for the player experience.

Q: You haven’t answered my question!If you feel that we didn’t answer one of your questions regarding population or purchase of The Flock, then feel free to send it to us a message at: info@vogelsap.com or visit our forums at http://www.forums.vogelsap.com

We want to take this risk and explore this path in a way we can. In the end we hope players to offer a one of a kind experience. This means the game won’t be for everybody and we are fine with that. We’re open, transparent and explicit about our population plan and would hate to see someone buying The Flock without knowing what he/she is getting into. So if you don’t like this idea, than we recommend not buying the game. Of course we like your money, but this is not about getting the best business deal. It’s about creating authenticity and exploring new ways for a game to deliver entertainment. You can be a part of that.